Interview with the Reiki Master

Interview: Talk to someone in an organization about what you read about. Ask them whether their experiences are consistent with the ideas presented in the readings, how the ideas might be useful in their work, etc. (This modality should include your own assessment of what you learned in the interview in addition to reporting the contents of the interview.)

I recently sat down with my girlfriend to discuss this week’s readings. I filled her in on the readings, and then I tried to gauge her response to her work. She is currently finishing her Masters work in Psychology, while also working for a Non-Profit called The Mindfulness Center.

She is the program director, Reiki instructor, Meditation instructor, and more. Her role at her work has recently been complicated due to internal struggles amongst her co-workers and manager. She has had to take on more work than she should in order to keep the organization running smoothly. So, I figured she’d be perfect to answer questions that refer to this week’s readings.

I realize an interview of this depth could go on forever, so I shortened it by breaking a few questions down according to a few of the readings.



Interviewer: The success of a team or organization depends on how well it is managed (Hill, 1995). Is the company you work for managed well? How can it be fixed?

Participant: Yes, the company I work for is managed the best it can be at this point in time. Everyone is given a significant amount of responsibility, but also with that responsibility comes a lot of trust by the manager, and this is nice. This allows us as a team to work together and allows one another to do their job. I work for a nonprofit that is still working to pay its bills. Currently we are understaffed and this affects management in one specific negative way – there are so many things to manage and not enough people to delegate the items that need managing. To fix this issue is simple in a sense, hire more people. The nonprofit is only two years old and barely breaking even, though. So, hiring more workers will cause the organization to go even more in dept to pay the additional salaries. This is a bet many organizations in the beginning stages of building a business must make.

Interviewer: When a company does not see good results, it is more often than not that the employees will begin to think negatively about the organization (Hall, 1995). Do you agree?

Participant: I agree that in the long run this will cause employees to think negatively about the organization. As I mentioned in the previous question the nonprofit I work for can barely pay its expenses. I’ve been working with the organization since the beginning and even though it is not profiting I still do not have a negative opinion of the company because I see that the mangers (and founders) are doing all they can to make the business successful. If this were five years from now, though, I may feel differently.

Interviewer: Do you think that the organization you work for should be able to adapt to change easier? If it the organization were more flexible, then would the structure change for the better or worse?

Participant: Currently I think my organization is too flexible. Its constantly changing and I think the organization would benefit from a more solidified way of functioning. I do believe, however, that its ability to be flexible helps in many aspects such as, reaching out to a wide group of individuals and participation in community events.

Interviewer: Please briefly state what turmoil is occurring at your organization internally (Hill, 1995)?

Participant: Currently the organization I work for is understaffed because it is not making enough money to hire more workers. This means that those of us working there have many more responsibilities than we can really handle, while being underpaid.

Interviewer: Can you briefly describe what teamwork is needed from top-down in your organization (Hill, 1995)?

Participant:

Interviewer: You have mentioned to me that your manager tends to be out-of-town. Do you think this geographical distance makes a negative impact on your organization (Hinds & Mortensen, 2005)? What needs to be changed?

Participant: Yes, I do believe this negatively impacts the business. The physical presence of the owner is very important is many respects. Her presence is important to the organization’s consumers and workers both. People like to see her face as the Founder of a nonprofit, and her skills as a founder/manager are important in bringing more individuals into the business. Finally, it is important for the workers to have a leader who is present and easily accessible for assistance or simply for communication.

Interviewer: An organization is considered healthier and stronger when the employees share an identity (Hinds & Mortensen, 2005). Would your organization benefit if all of its employees, manager included, thought similarly (Hinds & Mortensen, 2005)?

Participant: Because I work for a nonprofit that focuses on the health of individuals all of us do share a similar identity (or else we wouldn’t be there) and I find this helps a lot in keeping the organization healthy and strong.

Interviewer: Have miscommunications occurred while your manager was away (Hinds & Mortensen, 2005)? What is a solution for enhanced communication amongst your organization when your manager is out-of-town (Hinds & Mortensen, 2005)?

Participant: Miscommunications haven’t happened while my manager has been away, but LACK of communication consistently happens when she is out of town. A solution for enhanced communication would be daily meetings with her even when she is not in the area (online or by phone).

Interviewer: Please provide an example of how you have reacted to a disaster or crisis at your organization (Majcharzak, Jarvenpaa, & Hollingshead, 2007).

Participant: Because the organization is small we all realize that when a crisis arises we must act in a calm and organized manner with a sense of togetherness. Many of our clients come to us because they are in a crisis themselves so we must (1) practice what we preach, and (2) set a good example for our customers.

Interviewer: Would you say that the absence of your manager has contributed to disasters (Majcharzak, Jarvenpaa, & Hollingshead, 2007)? If yes, state one solution to this problem.

Participant: Yes, the absence of our manager has contributed to disasters. One solution to this would be the manager being more organized before she leaves to be out of town. Any items she needs to take care of should be settled and solved before leaving.



References

Hill, L. (1995). Managing your team, Harvard Business School, 1-22.
Hinds, P. H., & Mortensen, M. (2005). Understanding conflict in geographically
distributed teams: The moderating effects of shared identity, shared context, and spontaneous communication. Organization Science, 16, 290-307.
Majcharzak, A., Jarvenpaa, S., & Hollingshead, A. (2007). Coordinating expertise
among emergent groups responding to disasters, Organization Science, 18(1), 147-161.

ps Courtney, the links you posted in my blog last week are awesome. It's great to see how sociograms can be configured.